


Iris

by R_4_L



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: implications of "Kingsglaive"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 17:16:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19024396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_4_L/pseuds/R_4_L
Summary: "What happens next...."Gladiolus, left his little sister behind, she wasn't going sit still.  She was a Shield too.Questions from the Crunchyroll episode trailers to Kingsglaive and all the lovely AMV's I've found online.For "Meh" who wanted a story about the ones left behind when Noctis went on his road trip.  I don't really know the series, and I haven't played the games but I do enjoy the characters and the stories I can see and have read.





	Iris

**Author's Note:**

  * For [For Meh](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=For+Meh).



> Hope I got the grammar and spelling mistakes.

Iris was pretty sure that her obsession with the prince came when he saved her from her brother's wrath. She was the one who had asked for an audience with the prince. He had helped her when she had gotten lost chasing the kitty and taken the blame. Gladly had said that the prince was grounded because of her. It was easier to work around her dad, but she could convince either him or Cor to let her visit the castle after her dance practice. She found out where Gladdy was training the prince and she would sneak in and watch. It was amazing. Gladdy was so strong and the prince. He was cute. No matter how many times he was thrown to the ground, he just kept getting up. She so wanted to move like that, but there was no way they would let her.

She was trying to figure out the best way to convince both her bother and her father to allow her to train when Prince Noctis was attacked. Training was out of the question, but she had managed to convince them that she could visit the prince. Her visits were escape for both of them.

While he was confined to his bed, she would read to the prince and they would talk about his studies and what it was that he hoped to learn. She would tell him how much she loved dance and her dreams of one day following in her father's footsteps. "The thing is I don't know if only the men of our family can be the King's Shield?"

"Why would that matter?" Noctis loved having Iris come by. She didn't care that he was a prince so she didn't treat him any different, and she didn't ask for favors except his friendship. He could give her that even if she was a couple of years younger.

Iris tipped her head, "You've seen my father right? His tattoo is proof that he's the King's Shield and it's a family thing. Kind of like how you can wield magic and warp and stuff. The books says it's because the Amicitia family has always been the Shield of the King and the tattoo is in honor of that bond." She looked that her hands lying in her lap. She was almost embarrassed about how much research and pride she had done about their family history. "Dad's tattoo changed when grandpa died. I know that Gladdy's tattoo is just forming. Dad says it keeps changing as they get stronger. He's going to be your shield. He'll be awesome. I wanna help."

"So- help," Noctis was feeling sick at the idea of the tattoo changing with the death of the previous shield. He'd already been told that he would know what would happen when his father died. That his friend would know that pain tore him apart. "Do what you want and if he gives you grief, well maybe be sneaky about it."

"I can't hide that type of training from them." Iris was surprised the prince hadn't laughed in her face, but still to sneak behind their backs?

"Not like that? You're smart, do your research," Noctis could see where she was going, "maybe start with gymnastics. All that tumbling and balance practice helps with fighting; especially when you have a smaller build. I mean let's face it you're never going to be Gladiolus' size. There are a lot of women in the Kingsglaive."

She could see what he meant now.

It was within the year that Iris added gymnastics to her classes. The next year when prince was attacked again while in Tenebrae. It was the final push she needed to get them to agree to allow her to train for real. She would have to wait until she was of age, but she could...she would join the Glaive at eighteen.

Taking a deep breath she made her way to the Glaive training grounds.

"Iris, what are you doing here?" Cor kneels before the eight year old girl he's often come to think of as a niece. "Does your father know that you're here?"

She nodded, "Cor what can I do to get stronger like Gladdy?" Iris knew that asking Cor was like asking her father, but he was more likely to actually answering her.

He took her over to the trading arena where she could watch what was really happening. "Why do you want to get stronger?"

Iris watched the way the guards ran and jumped and dodged. They used their fists and weapons. They warped and used the King's magic. "I want to be like Gladdy, and to protect Noctis. I want to help and not be a burden."

He watched her. The way she watched his men training was fascinating. "What do you see, really see when you watch those guys fight?" He understood her easier, but needed to make sure that she had the right reasons.

"They're relying too much on the King's magic. They need to know how to fight without it first, before they learn to fight with it."

"How do you know they haven't already worked on that part?"

Iris pointed to a young man that had just fallen to his companion, "because if that was the case, then he could have won this round by taking our his opponent with a kick to the knee or a jab to the throat."

"Iris how often are you in gymnastics? Dance?"

The young girl looked up at her father's best friend, "well I have dance on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and gymnastics on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday."

Cor stood and held out his hand, "I'll talk to your gymnastics instructor and in a year or two you may have to drop dance in order to add martial arts. I'll talk to your dad."

Cor was good to his word and her gymnastic training changed to a more individual based program. As the year went by her Wednesday training switched to more martial arts based and no one said a word. 

Iris did her best to train as hard as she could. She still spent time visiting the prince and encouraged him to write more honestly to Luna. 

"Iris, the prince is going to start going to a public school. That means that I'm going to be spending more time with him." 

She looked up her brother. Gladiolus had grown so much. He was stronger, his arms so big, and when he picked her up she felt so small. He often walked around the house without a shirt. Ignis bugged him about it, but she loved being able to see how his tattoo changed on almost daily basis. It wasn't much but the colors changed and the details expanded. "Gladdy, you will protect him and stay with him right? He needs you."

"I'll be there for him, but I want you to be safe too. Dad says that Cor is going to start training you in some basic martial arts."

Iris gave him a big hug, she didn't know why it felt like she was saying goodbye. She was going to miss him so much. She didn't want to cry. 

"Hey, chin up squirt. I'll be around for a little bit yet. I may be living in the city, but we'll be coming back and forth for training."

Iris spied Gladiolus and Ignis at the training grounds numerous times over the next couple of months. Often times, Prince Noctis was with them. Sometimes she was able to peek in and watch their training. Everyone was getting so much stronger. She would too. She ran down to the Glaive training ground looking for Cor.

"Hey there short stuff, you lost?" The rough voice had her backing up. The man in front of her was dressed as a crownsguard but she didn't know him. There was something about him that didn't feel right.

"No sir, just looking for someone." She started to back up, not wanting to take her eyes off the man in front of her. The feel of a hand on her shoulder had her stomach dropping. She was in trouble now.

"Hey there, Iris isn't it?" The new voice behind her was a woman's but it still didn't have her dropping her guard. "Nyx, go grab Cor will ya? I'm Crowe, Cor said to look for you. Thanks man, I have it from here."

The man in front just nodded and walked off, letting Iris turn to see who was behind her for the first time. The woman was dressed as a Glaive. She looked tough, Iris wanted to be just like her.

"Thank you ma'am." Iris gave a small bow.

Cor came around the corner with another man. "Iris, I see you met Crowe. This is Nyx. They're two of my best. Crowe's going to help with your training, starting you off with some basics, Nyx and I will watch and make adjustments as needed." 

"Well, let's go little flower." Crowe ushered Iris down to the main floor of the training grounds.

Nyx stood beside the man he admired and watched as his friend took the daughter of the King's shield out onto the training ground. He was a little confused, but he figured that Cor had a plan. "So you going to let me in on your little plan with the Shield's daughter?"

"She wants to be a shield like her father and brother. I'm not sure she can be, but at the same time she picked out some training gaps within three minutes of watching. Over the last two years she has done gymnastics and some really basic martial arts forms. Anything I could get away with training without raise questions from her family."

"Oh?" Nyx had trained against Gladiolus, and the man was a damn good opponent.

"They baby her. Now watch, I gave Crowe direction on how I wanted to start her training. I want you to watch so you can help me adapt it, and maybe we can add it to Glaive training." The two men leaned against the rail and watched as Crowe slowly started to press Iris.

"I'm going to come after you. You just need to do whatever you can to evade me. No weapons, no magic." Crowe's voice was low as she moved around the grounds, trying to get behind the young girl. "You need to grab the red flag I tied to my belt."

Iris moved counter point, trying to keep her body square to the warrior. Crowe moved faster and faster, but Iris kept evading her. Nyx had started out just watching to see where he could correct Crowe, but he leaned closer to the edge as he watched the way Iris moved. Her movements were fluid and when she managed to get over Crowe's back it had surprised him. She had failed to grab the flag, but it had been close. It had taken a grand total of twenty minutes, she had done well. 

"I can see why you were interested. I'll help any way I can, in fact I think Crowe will want in as well." Nyx smiled, "I can't wait to see if she can handle the King's magic."

"She can handle the King's magic better then you. I just won't let her yet." The grin on Cor's face was smug.

Gladiolus was still bringing Noctis to the training ground for practice, but he wasn't coming alone. Noctis' new friend Promto was coming too. "We're going on a road trip. Ignis and I will be taking Noctis to meet Luna. We'll take them somewhere safe." Gladiolus was at the dinner table with his sister for the first time in a long time. "Right now we're trying to get Promto up to speed. The kid is a crack shot, but we need to get him up to speed on his fighting. As soon as his background check was cleared we started to include him in the Princes training as a way of making the Prince keep up. Now he's almost up to speed."

"Who else is helping with his training?" Clarus sat back with his glass of wine.

"I asked Cor to help make sure that I'm not leaving open spots." The eldest Amicitia looked over at his father. "He''s even checking in on the training Ignis and I are doing."

"Smart move."

Just before they left, Iris was there to see them off. Promto, never without his camera, took a group photo and a photo of the siblings before they left. He promised to email them that night.

The three men stood to the side as they watched the King's shield be brought down by his little sister. Iris was still barely half his size and only looked smaller because of the muscles, but she did her best to wrap her arms around her brother's chest and hold him tight.

"You stay safe." Iris tried not to cry. She turned and moved towards Ignis, her brother's best friend for years. "Iggy," The royal advisor had never been overly comfortable around her, but she gave him a hug anyway. "Gladdy trusts you so much. The two of you are almost invincible, so watch each other's back." She moved to the prince. Noctis had first met the youngest Amicitia ten years ago. She had often been a welcome diversion when he had been bed ridden.

Noctis surprised everyone but Iris when he pulled her into a hug. "I'll watch them, Iris."

She laughed, her crush on the prince causing her to blush, "it's supposed to be the other way around. We will always protect you, in everything that we do. You need to get to Luna, fulfill your destiny and be the King we all know you already are." 

The prince's friend Promto was the last one that she turned to, he was the one she knew the least. "Promto, I didn't have a chance to get to know you that well, but you job is perhaps the most important. Ignis and Gladdy often taken things too seriously. You've already managed to make the prince smile. Now you just need to work your magic on those two. I know you can do it." She pulled him close for a big hug and kiss on the cheek like she had given the other three

She stood on the steps beside her father and the King and watched the four men climb into the car and drive off.

True to his word, Promto sent her the pictures that night. Iris kept the one of her and her brother as her phone background and printed off three copies of the group shot, maybe she was being overly forward, but she had seen the way King Regis had watched his son depart. She had Jarrod help her frame them all, one she kept on her dresser, the other two she presented to her father. "One's for the King and I thought you could give it to him."

"That's very thoughtful Iris," Clarus knew Regis would most likely welcome the gift. Noctis didn't like having his picture taken, and this one had him actually smiling.

Iris knew that it was a security risk with her phone line unsecured, so she didn't text or email her brother. The last thing she wanted was to give away their position and get them in danger. When Nilfilhim convey came and with the Lady Luna she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. When she showed up for training after the Kingsglaive had returned from their last mission and was told that Crowe had been sent on another mission she didn't think anything of it. Cor had trained her. Two weeks later he had come to her to let her know about Crowe's death. She saw Nyx on the news guarding Luna but spent more time away from the citadel with Jarrod at her father's request. Something was in the air and her father was scared. 

She knew the moment her father died. There was a sharp stabbing pain in her shoulder, that had her crying out. Jarrod was there, "what's wrong Miss Iris?"

"My shoulder...." The tears fell as the pain dulled but she knew, "Dad.. Dad...he's...Jarrod, I think......I think Dad's gone." The sobs broke from her throat as she clutch the man who had helped to raise her. Jarrod had been with her family forever.

"Let me look at you shoulder miss." The older man had a good idea of what had happened but he needed proof. Pushing the neckline of her shirt off to the side he saw the beginning of a feather just folded over the thin shoulder. He closed his eyes and sighed. The King's shield had indeed fallen, which meant that Gladiolus was now the King's Shield and Iris was the shield in training. "Iris, I know this hurts, and you're right your father is gone. We need to leave now, to put the plan he had into action, you remember that right?" 

Clarus and Jarrod had multiple plans in place for when he died and they all depended on how he died and where Gladiolus was at the time. Since Gladiolus was on the road with the Prince, Clarus and Jarrod had gone through the home office and condensed or destroyed sensitive files as they both knew that if the butler had to run, his focus would rightly be on the lives of the children. 

"Pack an emergency bag, we won't be coming back." Jarrod went to get his bag and the computer from the office and the pair were off to Jarrod personal home in less then an hour. 

Iris sat in front of the window staring down at the people trying to get out of the city. Jarrod and his grandson had made sure she felt welcomed, the apartment over looked one of Insomnia's main gates. "we will leave Insomnia soon. I have a place we can stay where we'll be safe." The news reports that the royal family including Lady Luna had been killed in what the news was calling a rebellion.

It was a couple of days later when Jarrod deemed it safe enough for Iris to call. She took a quick selfie of herself, Jarrod and Talcott, and sent it off to her brother. It was a good one, it showed the three of them alive and well with the news in the background showing the date, it also showed a little of her tattoo. Gladiolus would see it and know. Dialing quickly she ran to the roof top and waited for him to answer.

"Gladdy, Gladdy it's me."

"Iris. Hey where are you? Are you safe?" His voice was rushed, and there were the sounds of the others in the background.

"I'm safe, I sent you a picture. Look I just wanted to make sure that you knew that I was safe. Dad.....Dad...is...."

"I know. We know about King Regis too." Gladiolus' voice was dark and low. "There's the tattoo and well the Prince..." He didn't want to say anything else because he didn't know how secure the line was. "I can't stay on the line much longer. It's not safe."

Iris understood the undercurrent. "I get it. Gladdy about the news, you need to know Luna is safe, at least she was."

"They said she was killed with the royal family?"

Iris grunted, "uh huh, I saw her after that. Let Noctis know she was safe at least yesterday, but she was alone. The Glaive, it's messed up. I saw Cor and he was mad, but I didn't talk to him."

There was silence on the other end and Iris could imagine her brother running his hand over his face like he normally did when he was frustrated. "Iris, I need to go. Stay safe. I'll contact you when I can, but don't expect me to call. I love you squirt."

"Love you too. Have Promto take lots of pictures, I want to hear all about everything when you ALL come home. Keep them safe Gladdy." Iris hung up and hugged the phone to her chest. It would be a long time before she would be able to see or talk to her brother again. He WOULD keep the prince safe, he was King's Shield after all.


End file.
